Microsoft's free course teaches you to build Windows 10 apps, even if you're a complete beginner

Develop Windows Universal apps that run on PCs, phones, tablets, and also Xbox and HoloLens

Melanie Pinola

Microsoft wants you to make your own Windows 10 apps--no programming experience needed.

The new Windows 10 development for absolute beginners series are video tutorials that walk you through developing Universal apps from start to finish. There are 80 videos in total, most of them very short (under 20 minutes if not under 10) and you'll learn to create four apps: A soundboard application, a weather app, a matching game, and a hero explorer app.

You'll need to have access to Windows 10 and will use Visual Studio (the 2015 Community Edition is free).

Although the course title says "absolute beginners," however, Microsoft does say you should know core concepts in C#, so you should take the C# Fundamentals series first. If you don't already know C#.

The free courses are designed to help Microsoft, of course, since more and better Windows apps are needed in the Windows App Store, but it's also another way for us to learn to code.

Melanie Pinola is a freelance writer covering all things tech-related. A former IT admin and occasional web developer, she is also the author of LinkedIn in 30 Minutes, a Lifehacker writer, and the Mobile Office Technology expert at About.com.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ITworld, its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.